Law enforcement officers continually face potentially deadly situations throughout their careers. Operating a law enforcement vehicle in a pursuit situation exposes the officer, the suspect, and the public to the greatest degree of danger and risk of injury. Injuries and deaths that result from law enforcement vehicle crashes exceed those that result from armed confrontations.

Pursuit Defined
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) define a pursuit as “an event that is initiated when a law enforcement officer, operating an authorized emergency vehicle, gives notice to stop (either through the use of visual or audible emergency signals or a combination of emergency devices) to a motorist who the officer is attempting to apprehend, and the motorist fails to comply with the signal by either maintaining his or her speed, increasing speed, or taking other evasive action to elude the officer’s continued attempts to stop the motorist.” The pursuit ends when the motorist stops or when the officer discontinues the attempt to apprehend.

Operating a law enforcement vehicle in a pursuit situation is a highly stressful and demanding experience. Pursuits involve unique responsibilities and critical decision-making requirements. During the pursuit, officers must rely on their maturity, patience, experience, and training while being governed by statutory law and agency policy. Pursuit driving should never be viewed as a contest between the violator and the officer.

Pursuit Policy
In 1995, IACP passed a resolution regarding vehicular pursuits and asked their Highway Safety Committee to draft a model policy. The committee concluded that asking law enforcement agencies to adopt a single standardized policy on pursuits was impractical. However, the committee felt there were a number of issues that every pursuit policy should address, and they sought to identify and define those issues.

The committee ultimately recommended that law enforcement agencies develop, adopt, and enforce formal, written directives tailored to the needs of each individual jurisdiction, with particular emphasis on public safety concerns. This policy set forth the procedures to be used by officers for initiating, conducting, and terminating vehicular pursuits.

This sample policy serves as a guide for law enforcement administrators responsible for developing written policy to govern vehicular pursuits. It outlines crucial components that should be included in every policy; however, agencies are encouraged to supplement them as needed and adopt stringent policies based on individual conditions.